Issues

Aid and development

Fresh water in Kiribati

Lorrie Graham for AusAID

Australia is one of a handful of countries sticking by its commitment to increase its foreign aid budget in the wake of the extended global financial challenges. Although the Australian Government is delaying to 2016-2017 its commitment to get Australia's aid budget to 0.5% of Australia's gross national income, the aid budget is still on an upward trend with a 4% increase planned for next financial year. Australia's aid program continues to increase at a time when other economies in the region, notably China and India, are taking on donor roles in countries where Australia has been traditionally one of the major donors. Other countries in Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea are also emerging as small aid donors. The role of Australia's aid program in the world and how it fits into Australia's international policy suffers from weak domestic public discussion and debate. There is a lack of understanding on how the Australian aid program contributes to and supports Australia's national interest. Why should Australia maintain its aid commitment? What is international development? How does a changing international environment impact on Australia’s aid policy and its relations in the regions? How does a foreign aid program fit in with Australia's wider international policy and national interest? Lowy Institute research, events and commentary examines these sorts of questions whilst debating & discussing the strategic influence of Australia’s aid program.

Featured Publications

In this Analysis Lowy Institute Melanesia Program Director, Jenny Hayward-Jones, argues that Australia’s massive expenditure of $2.6 billion on the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was a high price to pay for restoring stability in a small country. She argues that although...

In the current climate of electoral desperation in Australia, it is difficult to get a true picture of the reality of Australia's aid program in PNG because it's so misunderstood even when the spotlight isn't shining on it. Very few people actually understand that there is a genuine effort on the...

Latest Publications

By Eva Westfield, who was an Australian volunteer based in Port Vila. Consistently rated the most dangerous countries in the world in terms of disaster risk, Vanuatu is no stranger to the destruction caused by natural hazards. Talk of Cyclone Pam hitting Vanuatu started about a week before it...

Should Australia join the Chinese-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)? As often happens in international affairs, the answer is not found in the technical pros and cons of the proposal, but in the politics. America seems to have strongly encouraged its close Asian friends (Japan,...

For many Australians, Laos is a scenic, off-the-beaten path, holiday destination for adventurous travellers. Relatively few know that it's also a repressive one-party state with a long record of restricting basic rights, and imprisoning or forcibly disappearing critics or citizens who dare to form...

On 3 March, Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said , 'We must use the celebration of International Women's Day to highlight the plight of women still fighting for freedom and equality, for when that is achieved it will be for the betterment of us all.' That fight is ongoing in the Asia-...

This week's Quick Comment interview is with the Lowy Institute's Dr Philippa Brant , who is behind the Lowy Institute's latest (and very popular) infographic on Chinese aid to the Pacific . Philippa discusses how she put the data together (China doesn't have a comprehensive accounting of its own...